Oh, hello there. I almost didn’t see you, reading my words and whatnot. My name is Rodriguez and I’m here to answer questions and chew bubble gum…and I accidentally swallowed all my bubble gum (sad face). Although I haven’t been the most active contributor to the site with my last post being almost three years ago to the month, I can claim to know a lot about this whole “MMA” thing. Claim. Anyway, I’m sure there’s a few people out there with questions that are gonna bug them all day if they don’t get the answer. For you Jackals, I’ll do my best to answer any and all of those questions. Except the stupid ones. Send those to Ben Fowlkes because he needs something to do in Montana or wherever his scrap heap cabin is. You can mail your questions, comments, past due notices and non-expired pizza coupons to fightlinker.rodriguez@gmail.com and I’ll probably maybe read them, or something. With that being said – let’s dig in!

– “How many big name acquisitions must fail in the UFC before everyone admits that the level of other organizations does not compare?”

Why you askin’ me questions like that? Fine, I’ll answer it: because there are good fighters in the UFC. Top guys can’t help but gravitate to Zuffa for their deep pockets, massive viewership and sexie Octogon girls. That being said, the talent level is matched up appropriately – so what actually constitutes “failure” to you people? Does it mean having more losses than wins in a promotion? If so, then explain the difference between Hector Lombard taking six seconds to smash Jay Silva in Bellator and if he had done it in the UFC. The question should really be ‘How many big name acquisitions must stop being the big fish in a small pond before everyone admits talented guys want to fight in the UFC?’

I’m no accountant, but I’m sure the UFC ain’t broke right now. It’s a safe bet to say they’re growing on paper based on the amount of fights being produced compared to the previous year. In terms of revenue? That I can’t guesstemate. It’s easy to assume that everything they do costs money, but you also gotta remember that they also make it through more avenues than they can lose it (i.e. ticket sales). I don’t know how much it cost to finally run shows in Sweeden, Germany, Japan, Ireland, Narnia and other countries I’ve only heard of in Dr. Seuss books (I’m looking at you, Macau), but just remember that these international shows are investments intending to be the spark that starts an inferno. If it worked in the US, Canada and Brazil, then that’s reason enough to send an Octogon and Nick The Tooth to other countries to see if they can build a fanbase there, too.

– “There used to be a very elite group of top UFC fighters that got the coveted PPV percentage contract, but now it’s implied that most big names get the same deal. Why would anyone but the biggest money earners have that in their contract?”

Agents are overtaking managers in this sport. You got companies like WME turning “fighters” into “clients” now. Once you cross that line, they can use their knowledge of the scummy entertainment world and dig their claws deep into the contract of anybody they represent, looking for any loopholes or demands they can get for their ‘no-you’re-totally-cared-about-with-full-attention’ UFC client #152 a.k.a. Eddie Alvarez or whoever sells their soul along with a deduction of monetary percentage for their services. Somewhere, Monte Cox is shaking his head in disappointment. Things like this and guys’ refusal to fight others based on them are why Dana feels it’s better to keep contracts – and the written bonuses in them – under wraps.

Well, that’s it for the inaugural un-official mailbag. If there’s enough emails in my inbox after this then there’s gonna be one next week. Until then, I’m gonna have a sit down with BigHeathenMike to gently let him know that I’m forcefully taking away his writing privileges.

Thanks Rod I appreciate your service. Some one had to dust off these forums albeit by default of WordPress.

I recently had the same revelation firmly upheld by watching this new season of Bellator. Just by being an avid MMA fan for years I have been watching Bellator and it just seems like second rate or lower level talent. Not everyone in Bellator sucks but the level of MMA is just noticeably inferior to the UFC in my opinion. That said I was high on a guy like Lombard and was excited for his UFC run. He did what he was supposed to do with the lower level competition and disposed of them quickly so I expected better of him in the big leagues. He obviously has the power to hurt people but has shown he can also be controlled and smothered. I was hoping he’d turn things around with the Okami fight and add some interest to MW but we saw how that worked out. I still would like to see him fight Bisping as the shit talk has ramped up, that still has appeal to me but maybe not to others.

Rumors are also picking up that Anderson and Jon Jones may be in the works. That “superfight” is way more intriguing to me than the GSP fight. Do you think this happens and how does it play out?

All the gay questions were usually addressed by Ommomatta but the internet AIDS infecting this site may have claimed him.